TMC ridicules talk of Cong-Left alliance in WB assembly poll

The Trinamool Congress today ridiculed the possibility of an alliance between Left and Congress in the coming Assembly election in West Bengal, saying it was not in the character of CPI-M to observe 'jotdharma'.
Even if such an alliance did take shape, the grassroot Congress workers would always support the Trinamool Congress, TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee claimed.
"It (CPI-M) has an alliance in the form of Left Front. What happened now, which makes them talk about another alliance? They want to replicate the model of a civic body poll in the state Assembly election. It is a ridiculous proposition!" Chatterjee told reporters here.

He also said, "If you see its (CPI-M)political character, you will find that it never observed jotdharma (rule of alliance). Sometimes it gives support to Congress and withdraws it at some point of time. Only in Bengal it has some smaller parties in the Left Front and it has ruled with highhandedness. It never allowed the people to vote," he alleged.
Asserting that the Congress workers would not accept such an alliance, he said that in that event they would support the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC.
Taking a dig at the Marxists, Chatterjee, also the state education minister, said that the political situation in the state was "so good" that the CPI-M held its plenum here and not anywhere else.

Meanwhile, WBPCC spokesperson Omprakash Mishra wrote a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi seeking seat adjustment with Left Front in the election.

In his letter, the copy of which was given to the press, AICC member Mishra said, "A Congress-Left Front seat adjustment with a declared common minimum programme would dethrone the TMC government and usher in a Congress-LF alliance in West Bengal".
Janata Dal had 22 MPs in Uttar Pradesh in 1991, when
Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chandra Shekhar parted ways with V P Singh and formed Samajwadi Janata Party.
Since then Janata Dal and later Janata Dal (United) have been on decline there. In 1996, the party headed by Sharad Yadav had 6 MLAs, which came down to two in 2002 Assembly polls.

Buoyed by the victory in Bihar, the party feels it can rejuvenate its moribund unit in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with parties like RLD and Congress.
JD(U), which is running a coalition government with RJD in Bihar, is hopeful that Lalu Prasad will campaign for the secular umbrella alliance, if it comes about, despite SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav being his relative.
The SP chief had walked out of the JD(U)-RJD-Congress alliance in Bihar and formed a third front to contest the polls.